National Silver Medals awarded to Litchfield Art Students
Dallas Rohde and Kyle Betke worked in the same three dimensional art class at Litchfield school. They would
chide and challenge each other saying things like “it’s too bad all of my artwork has been better than all of
yours” and “that might be the first work you’ve ever done that’s better than mine”. The competitive atmos-
phere has paid off. These two students both won Gold Keys, the highest honor at the state level, which sent
their sculptures independently to the next level of competition, nationals.
Of the 3,800 entries submitted to the highly competitive Scholastics Competition only 34% earned a spot in
the state show in Omaha. After being juried by multiple experts in the field, works are awarded either Honor-
able Mention, Silver Key or Gold Key. The Gold Keys continue to the next level, National Competition. A new
lineup of judges use a rubric to narrow down all 50 states to a few medalists. Only 31 Nebraska students
earned a national medal Kyle Betke and Dallas Rohde are 2 of the 31 earning a National Medal this year.
Since 1923, the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards have recognized the vision, ingenuity and talent of our na-
tion’s youth. The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards have grown to be the nation’s longest-running, most
prestigious recognition initiative for creative teens. These two students have shown they have what it takes
and have the Olympic size medals to prove it.
In 2019, 340,000 works of art and writing were submitted to the Scholastic Awards. Submissions are juried by
luminaries in the visual and literary arts. Panelists look for works that best exemplify originality, technical
skill, and emergence of a personal voice or vision. National Medalists are recognized in part at the National
Ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Kyle Betke
Dallas Rohde